8/13/15 Elation 4-Day Review

My wife and I took a very last minute cruise on the Elation last week. We found a price that we couldn't say no to and were able to adjust our work schedules to take a last minute weekend/anniversary getaway to Cozumel. We both work in the airline industry and tweaking our work schedule is very easy to do so we are fortunate. This is the third last minute cruise we have taken this year, with the other two being a 5-day Magic out of Galveston in February and a 7-day Dream out of New Orleans in May.

We live in a small town just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas so we try to sail out of New Orleans and Galveston whenever possible because they are driving distance with NOLA being about 6 to 7 hours and Galveston at about 8 to 9 hours.

As far as this review is concerned, there won't be any pictures because we aren't the picture taking type of couple.

Pre-Cruise

We found a great rate on the Elation about a week prior to sailing. After adjusting our work schedules, we booked it. I also found FTTF was available, so as usual, we snagged it since it is well worth the $50 in our eyes.

Typically, we drive down to New Orleans or Galveston the night before, but being this was so last minute we had to drive down the morning of the trip. We got up at 2 am and were in the truck at 3 am driving to New Orleans. We stopped twice for gas and to stretch our legs and pulled up to the parking garage on Erato Street at about 9:30 am. We usually park at the pier for convenience since we literally walk out of the truck and hop in the elevator and are checking in 10 minutes later. It was $64 for the cruise, so it isn't terribly expensive, especially given the convenience factor.

Embarkation

After we parked, we were through security and completely checked in within 10 minutes and were sitting in the waiting area with a few other early birds.

At about 11:15 they began boarding and we were on the ship by 11:25 and in our stateroom at 11:30. I'll go more into detail on our room shortly. We unpacked and I found the ironing room and ironed our clothes for the next 4 days. We were having lunch at Tiffany's Restaurant on Lido by noon.

As usual, we purchased the Cheers! program. This works well for us because my wife and I are big drinkers. If you figure the average beer is $6 and the average mixed/iced drink is $8, you definitely come out ahead after about your 7th or 8th drink.

The muster drill occurred promptly at 3:30 and we were setting sail at about 4:15.

Stateroom

Our stateroom was an interior stateroom, U11, located on Upper Deck forward, starboard side.

Since we booked so late, the only staterooms left were interior rooms. I must say that I was apprehensive about it at first because we are balcony snobs. This was our first interior room, and I LOVED it. Don't get me wrong, I definitely missed my balcony, but the room was quiet, roomy and best of all DARK!! I think I had the best 4 nights of sleep in that room than I've had in as long as I can remember.

The bathroom was much roomier than I had remembered. We have sailed on Fantasy class ships before, but it has been a few years and I don't recall them being as roomy as the one in our stateroom was. It was definitely larger than bathrooms on Dream class ships.

The Ship

Elation is a Fantasy class ship and we have sailed on Imagination, Ecstasy and Paradise in the past, but it has been several years since we were on a Fantasy class ship. She is an older ship and is showing her age in a few areas, but all in all, she is very well maintained and very clean. She doesn't have all the bells and whistles and venues that you can find on Dream class ships or refurbished Spirit/Conquest/Sunshine classes, but there is still plenty to do.

My wife and I are very easy to please. Just give us a drink and a lounge chair or a blackjack table or slot machine and we are smiling! So, based on that, you can probably interpolate that we spent the majority of our time in the casino or in a lounge chair taking in the sun and ocean air. The ship was at capacity (or so we heard), but it never seemed crowded and there were always plenty of lounge chairs to be had by the Lido pool or aft pool.

There is a mix of DJs and live music, but I did find that the live music seemed to be more prevalent than the DJ this cruise. There was always a band or guitar singer either at the Lido pool or across from the Drama Bar or in the Atrium Lobby.

As far as entertainment goes, we aren't big on the stage shows, so I can't comment on them. In fact, in all of our cruises, we have been to exactly 1 stage show. They just don't excite us. However, we did go to several of the comedy shows and both comics were quite funny. We went to the piano bar one night for a couple of hours and he was entertaining. He played and sang well and did a good job at keeping the crowd entertained and engaged.

Food

As far as food is concerned, there isn't much to say. The Lido buffet is the same thing it always is. The main restaurant menu is also the same old Carnival menu that they've had for years. Elation has not yet switched to American Table/Feast.

However, we did attend the Chef's Table one night. I must say, it was absolutely amazing! The food was some of the best I have ever had on any cruise ship and the wine flows non-stop. And, it's the good wine, not the cheap stuff. It was well worth the $75 per person fee and that includes the galley tour, a picture with the Chef and staff, a quick magic show with a few card tricks, a 7 course meal and all the wine and champagne you can drink. My only complaint about the Chef's Table is that it dragged on for about 4 1/2 hours. The courses were coming out very, very slowly. About half way through dinner, I discovered why it was dragging on -- the dinner portion of the experience only goes as fast as the slowest eater at the table. There were 16 of us there and there was one guy who was a big talker and very slow eater, so that held the rest of us up. But he was a helluva nice guy with some interesting stories so that made it a little more tolerable. If you do book the Chef's table, be prepared for it to last all night. It began at 6 pm for us and we were finished around 10:30.

Crew

As usual, the crew was fantastic.

The Captain was Placido Tumminelo and the CD was Brandon Kovshoff. We aren't the type of people who care who the CD is. He/She doesn't make or break the cruise for us and quite honestly, I have never understood some people's obsession with Cruise Directors and never really had any criticisms of our CD. However, I do have one small comment about Brandon -- he talks waaay too fast when he is making his announcements. Specifically, during the muster drill, he spoke so fast and he misspoke so much that it made it quite difficult to understand what he was saying. Now, this was our umpteenth cruise so we knew the drill, but for someone that doesn't cruise as frequently as we do, this could be an issue.

Bar service was fast and friendly, even at the Lido pool on sea days.

Our waiters in the Imagination Dining room were some of the best we have ever had -- Alfredo, I Wayan and Ketkut were phenomenal and friendly and very funny. They worked well together and our food was always delivered within a few minutes of ordering.

Our cabin steward was Bagus and he was very friendly, also. We asked for extra towels and ice during every service and he accommodated our requests.

Cozumel

Every time we go to Cozumel, we go to Nachi Cocum. This trip, however, we did something completely different. We took a taxi into the town of San Miguel and walked around. We had a great time and it was nice to try something different at a port that we visit quite frequently.

We ate lunch at a restaurant called Pancho's Backyard and it was good, but I was surprised at how pricey it was. The food was tasty and the salsa was spicy (just the way I like it) and the margaritas were some of the strongest I've ever had. The service was good and there was live music.

After lunch we walked around some of the back streets of San Miguel and walked through shops and flea markets that the locals use and found some really, really good deals. For instance, we found a liter bottle of local tequila called Orendain for $10. We found the exact same bottle closer to the port for $40. It pays to get away from the port! Even though we were a good ways away from the main drag, it was clean and we never felt unsafe.

Debarkation

Since we had FTTF, we were instructed to be in the Romeo and Juliet Lounge at 8 am. Around 8:05, we were led off the ship and were through customs and in our truck by 8:30. We stopped at a plantation for lunch in southern Mississippi on our way home and walked in our front door at around 5:00. Were it not for our pit stop, we would have been home around 3.

To summarize, we had an excellent time and had forgotten how much fun and how much more intimate Fantasy class ships are. It was a nice, relaxing 4 day getaway for my wife and I. We love cruising and have never had a bad cruise and this one was no different.

Assuming we don't take anymore last minute cruises, our next planned ones are an 8-day Breeze on October 10th and a 13 -day Sunshine on February 21, 2016. We are really looking forward to the 13-day Sunshine cruise because it goes to some really neat and off-the-beaten-path ports, most of which we have never been to.

If you have any questions, please ask and I will answer them the best I can.

Thanks for reading and happy cruising!

Thanks for the great review!

Quick Nachi Cocum question: I was talking with a friend today who lives in Georgia and has never cruised, so she wants to break that virginity with me soon, since she lives less than 5 hours from Port Canaveral, Jacksonville, Charleston and Tampa. She works at the beach every day, so she has already expressed not wanting to go to the beach, but wouldn't mind a beach club where she can go to the pool, or go snorkeling / jetskiing or something. Is Nachi Cocum just a beach club with a pool and waterfront, or are there water sports offered? Or would it be better to take an organized snorkel tour?

Thanks so much for the help! :)

Thanks for the great review!

 

Quick Nachi Cocum question: I was talking with a friend today who lives in Georgia and has never cruised, so she wants to break that virginity with me soon, since she lives less than 5 hours from Port Canaveral, Jacksonville, Charleston and Tampa. She works at the beach every day, so she has already expressed not wanting to go to the beach, but wouldn't mind a beach club where she can go to the pool, or go snorkeling / jetskiing or something. Is Nachi Cocum just a beach club with a pool and waterfront, or are there water sports offered? Or would it be better to take an organized snorkel tour?

 

Thanks so much for the help! :)

We love Nachi Cocum. It is quiet, private and secluded with a beautiful beach.

For the most part, it is a small all inclusive beach resort. They have a beautiful swim-up pool with a hot tub. They do have water activities available like snorkeling, scuba, jet ski rentals and parasailing for an additional fee.

If your friend has never been to Cozumel, I think you would be hard pressed to keep her out of the water. Once you have seen how clear the water is there, the ocean off the coast of Georgia looks like sewage water. Sad but true.

stobe1-thanks for your review, I have always enjoyed the smaller ships, they never seem crowded, there are lots of open areas, and it's just nice to read a direct and honest review from a happy cruiser.

We love Nachi Cocum. It is quiet, private and secluded with a beautiful beach.

 

For the most part, it is a small all inclusive beach resort. They have a beautiful swim-up pool with a hot tub. They do have water activities available like snorkeling, scuba, jet ski rentals and parasailing for an additional fee.

Thank you!

If your friend has never been to Cozumel, I think you would be hard pressed to keep her out of the water. Once you have seen how clear the water is there, the ocean off the coast of Georgia looks like sewage water. Sad but true.

 

 

stobe1-thanks for your review, I have always enjoyed the smaller ships, they never seem crowded, there are lots of open areas, and it's just nice to read a direct and honest review from a happy cruiser.

Yes she knows. She's been to the Cayman Islands, Bahamas and the USVI, plus some of the Greek Isles. But with working at the beach for the past 7 years, she said it would make no sense to pay a couple hundred to go sit on one hundreds of miles away. She'd go for an experience, but not a beach. Just like people who live in the cold can't fathom why people cruise to Alaska when it's 90 back home.

Thanks for the review. I'll be going on the Elation in February for our second cruise...the first was the Dream.

After this review I'm definitely considering the Chef's Table for dinner one night. Is that something you have to purchase when you get on the ship?

We were there in Sept. and there were parasails everywhere put they are not offered at Nachi Cocum. I asked the guy at the water sport building and he said you could book at other places.